ChicagoClout

Fire city Human Resources commissoner, inspector general says
June 27, 2009

BY MARK J. KONKOL Staff Reporter
Chicago’s inspector general wants Human Resources Commissioner Homero Tristan fired for allegedly violating court-ordered political hiring rules, according to a report filed in federal court Friday.

Tristan failed to report — and later lied about — receiving a Jan. 29 request by Southwest Side Ald. Michael Zalewski (23rd) for a more favorable job assignment for one of his constituents, acording Inspector General David Hoffman’s report.

That directly violated a Jan. 2008 court order that requires the city Human Resources Department to report to the federal hiring monitor any contact it has with elected officials regarding hiring, Hoffman said.

When first asked why he didn’t report the alderman’s letter, Tristan told the hiring monitor he thought the letter fell in a “gray area” in the court order. In a later interview, Tristan told Hoffman he was unaware of the letter until late February, according to court papers.

“The commissioner’s changing stories and questionable credibility in this situation mean that it will be difficult to have confidence” future decisions will be handled in an “honest and appropriate fashion,” the report states.

The report also states Tristan failed to report a letter from City Clerk Miguel del Valle expressing his disapproval of recent pay grade changes for certain employees.

Tristan is a Hispanic labor lawyer who is chairman and treasurer of the Chicago Latino 100 Political Action Committee, which donated $2,000 and publically endorsed del Valle’s campaign in 2007, according to the report.

Tristan said he “vehemently disagrees with the report” and has no plans to resign.

“The report states I lied in an investigation ... It’s preposterous to say I would lie in an investigation with the IG over the facts of the case,” he said. “The issue they take was the timeliness of reporting ... Keep in mind the letter is a request for constituent job action. The request was not granted.”

Hoffman recommended the suspension of a city Law Department attorney who waited a month before reporting Zalewski’s letter to the hiring monitor. Hoffman also recommended that letters of reprimand be issued to a human resources assistant commissioner and hiring liaison who did not inform the monitor of the alderman’s letter, the report states.

Calls seeking comment from Mayor Daley’s press office and a city Law Department spokeswoman on Friday were not not returned.

explanation
Mayor offers contradictory accounts about pledging to guarantee funding in Chicago's bid for 2016 Olympics
By David Heinzmann and Dan P. Blake

Tribune reporters

June 28, 2009

If confusing political spin was an Olympic event, Mayor Richard Daley would be in line for a gold medal following his attempt Friday to explain whether he's putting taxpayers on the hook for the 2016 Summer Games.

The mayor's first public appearance in Chicago since meeting with Olympic officials in Switzerland last week turned into an often bewildering news conference. At issue was his surprise decision to reverse course and tell the International Olympic Committee his city would take full financial responsibility if it wins the Games.

Daley aides and members of Chicago's Olympics bid team spent all week explaining why the mayor's about-face was necessary and seeking to dampen the political firestorm it created.

But on Friday, Daley offered muddled and conflicting versions of his pledge to sign the standard Olympics contract in a bid to win the Games.

In a news release, Daley said he may have "spoke too quickly" when he agreed in Switzerland to give an unlimited financial guarantee.

Pressed by reporters, Daley then seemed to suggest he hadn't made a blanket guarantee: "I just said I will sign an agreement, I didn't say which one." He added the city still planned to amend the Olympics contract to ease Chicago's liability.

But that is markedly different from Daley's remarks immediately after emerging from his June 17 meeting with the IOC, when he told the Tribune he had just agreed to sign the host city contract "as is." Daley's account was confirmed by IOC President Jacques Rogge.

"The mayor said he will sign the host city contract. We have only one host city contract," Rogge said last week. "There is no amendment to the host city contract whatsoever from the IOC."

The contract puts full responsibility for potential financial losses squarely on the host city, and for months Daley and the bid team pledged not to sign the contract, which could put taxpayers on the hook if there are cost overruns beyond the $750 million level the city and state already have agreed to cover. They secretly reversed course in the weeks before the critical Switzerland meeting after Olympics officials said they expected the contract to be signed without modifications.

The reversal alarmed aldermen who had not been consulted about the fundamental change to the city's potential financial liability for the Olympics. They were further concerned by the Daley administration's position that it didn't need council approval for the broader guarantee.

Chicago 2016 Chairman Patrick Ryan went to City Hall for a series of private meetings this week to soothe aldermen. At the meetings Ryan told aldermen Daley had no choice but to go along with international Olympics officials.

It was impossible to say whether Daley's shifting message would affect IOC officials' impressions of the bid. But his contradictory remarks also make it difficult for critics to pin him down.

Daley said repeatedly Friday he wanted to correct the record to reflect that he had not signed the contract, as if there was a mistaken public perception that he had already put pen to paper.

But the media have consistently reported that he had only told the IOC that Chicago would sign at a later date.

Mayor Richard Daley’s Human Resources commissioner, Homero Tristan, fired back at allegations from Inspector General David Hoffman, who last week called for Daley to fire Tristan.

In a letter obtained by the Tribune today, Tristan rebutted Hoffman’s report that he had lied to investigators probing an attempt by an alderman to exert influence for a city worker from his ward.

Asked about Hoffman’s allegations against Tristan earlier today, Daley said he had not yet read the report from the inspector general.

Hoffman did not immediately return a telephone call for comment.

Keep supporting the Democrats and you are guaranteed to have a lot to bitch about on your website in the upcoming years. I hope Hoffman runs against Daley because all the other possible candidates on the democratic side are either too scared or have been bought off by Daley. Come to think about it, there are no Republicans to run either. Amazing. America has become a fast growing dictatorship country.

Hey Pat,

I have to say you are being hypocritical about the company you keep. I've done political work for your friends (removed) and (removed). They said the same things you attack on your website. Not to get into who we where working for, but they promised all the precinct captains job after job and in the end nobody got anything. I respect your site and what you do but I don't respect your company. There playing you like they did everyone else. Phonies.
(Response) I pick whom I choose to support. I choose the lessor of two evils in many cases. That you can count on.

Scott Lee Cohen is the most arrogant jack a$$. He put up 3 million dollars of his own money into his campaign & said that the other candidates together could maybe find that much in their couch cushions. He has four children and three have nothing to do with him, they won't even talk to him. That shoud say a lot about his character! Don't vote for Scott Lee Cohen, you will regret it.